Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Movie Review
Director: Ang Lee (The Life of Pi)
Writer: Jean-Christophe Castelli (Screenplay)
Writer: Ben Fountain (Novel)
Cast
- Joe Alwyn (Harriet)
- Garrett Hedlund (Mudbound)
- Steve Martin (Planes, Trains and Automobiles)
- Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
- Vin Diesel (Fast Franchise)
Plot: 19-year-old Billy Lynn is brought home for a victory tour after a harrowing Iraq battle. Through flashbacks, the film shows what happened to his squad – contrasting the realities of war with America’s perceptions.
Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk starts as Billy Lynn (Alwyn) and his unit who became a viral success return home. They are drawn into a publicity campaign across America for the football season.
Billy starts reflecting on his time in conflict, the moment that went viral and the loss of his fellow soldier. This leads him to question everything he does on this tour, where nobody seems grateful for their sacrifices.
Verdict on Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a drama following a viral military unit that is thrown into the spotlight. They get forced into a press tour without any advice on how to act on tour, given orders and put through things that bring back the nightmares.
The movie explores the PTSD that the unit hasn’t willing addressed yet. We only get to see the people in Billy’s life that have been affected, never getting into the deeper side of the fellow soldiers.
The cast is impressive, but the story does feel flatter than it could be. There is one key discussion point which could have improved things, but they seem to have forgotten that was discussed earlier in the film.
Final Thoughts – Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a solid story that doesn’t hit everything it needs to.